Standing with the Status Quo! How Social Connections to Energy Resources Shape Views about and Participation in Energy Transition

There is near-unanimous consensus within the scientific community that mitigating unimaginable future climate disasters requires rapid transition away from fossil fuel. Already, mega-storms that are consistent with climate models’ predictions, including recent Hurricanes Helene and Milton, which hit the Florida Gulf Coast area and caused hundreds of fatalities and catastrophic property damages, are taking place. While the threat of climate change is readily apparent, we cannot take for granted that everyone will be supportive of replacing fossil fuels with other energy sources. This resistance is, in part, driven by the fact that all transitions, whether planned or forced by emergent socio-environmental circumstances, often create winners and losers. Our study draws on the multi-level perspective (MLP), developed in the field of innovation studies, to examine how social connections to energy resources (that is, social distance) shape views about and participation in energy transition. The MLP argues that socio-technical transitions are shaped by interactions between actors within and between the incumbent regime (the status quo subject to change), radical niche-innovations (the regime seeking to supplant the status quo), and the socio-technical landscape (the broader social context). Our study utilizes both qualitative and quantitative data collected in Uinta County, Utah, United States. Preliminary results suggest that social connection to the fossil fuel industry is a significant predictor of views about energy transition and participation in it. This is consistent with the MLP perspective, which indicates we should expect resistance to energy transition from individuals and families with social connection to fossil fuels. Thus, a crucial aspect of advancing an energy transition involves how to convince specific people to accept and take advantage of the opportunities available in a move away from fossil fuels and how to ensure that they are not left behind in a losing situation, worse off than they currently are.